Corn Varieties: Best Bets and Easy-to-Grow

There is no substitute for the flavor of corn just picked from the garden.

Flavor and adaptability to your garden’s climate are the major considerations when choosing a corn variety. There are three types of fresh-eating sweet corn grouped by flavor: standard corn, sugary enhanced corn, and supersweet corn (adaptability to your garden’s climate–the soil and air temperature–is actually linked to the flavor type). Here’s how these corn types differ:

• Standard corn is the “old-fashioned” corn your grandfather grew; the corn with tasty corn flavor. These varieties–many are heirlooms and open-pollinated–have been around for years and years. Standard corn is plantable in cool soil, as cool as 55°F. This corn is best rushed to the kitchen and eaten within an hour of harvest.

• Sugary enhanced corn are hybrid varieties that keep their sweet flavor up to 3 days after harvest. Sugary enhanced hybrids give growers a 3-day window for harvest. (Near harvest time it is important to monitor standard corn each day to make sure you pick at the peak of its sweet flavor.) Sugary enhanced cultivars don’t require daily monitoring; pick sugary enhanced corn anytime within the 3 day peak flavor period. This type of corn demands soil temperatures about 10° warmer than standard corn.

• Supersweet corn are also hybrid varieties–the sweetest flavored of all corn. Supersweet corn varieties are sweeter than sugary enhanced varieties. Supersweets also have an enhanced harvest window of 2 to 3 days. One note, supersweet corn can be demanding: it requires soil no less than 65°F at planting time; it grows best when the soil is pre-warmed (cover beds with black plastic to warm the soil); and it is less vigorous than standard or sugary enhanced corn.

In addition to the best bets of these three types, also listed here are recommendations for popping, baby corn, and ornamental corn. Keep reading to the bottom of this post and I will give you my tips for sure-fired corn growing success.

• Sweetie. 82 days. Exceptionally sweet, tender-crisp, deep golden yellow kernels. Slightly tapered ears 7 to 8 inches long with 14 to 18 rows of kernels. Stalks to 6 feet. Retains sweetness for a long period, both in the field and when harvested. 30 percent fewer calories than regular corn. Excellent for home gardens.

Corn Growing Success Tips:

Corn growing success will come with a few simple growing strategies:

Planting bed preparation. Choose a site with full sun. Choose a bed or site where corn can be planted on 2 to 3 foot squares or blocks. Planting in a block pattern will maximize pollination: corn is pollinated commonly by wind as the pollen falls from the male tassels to the female silks. Even and close proximity of stalks will enhance the opportunity for pollination.

Plant corn on small hills or in raised beds; corn prefers well-drained soil that warms quickly. In flat beds, turn the soil to 6 inches deep. Add plenty of aged compost to the planting area and dust with nitrogen-rich cottonseed meal or soybean meal (3 pounds per 100 square feet).

Planting time. Sow corn or set out small starts when the soil has warmed to at least 65°F, usually two to three weeks after the last frost in spring. Black plastic can be used to cover the soil in advance and prewarm the bed.

Care. Corn is a member of the grass family; it requires regular even moisture. Give corn 1to 2 inches of water each week. Place drip irrigation or a soaker hose near the base of stalks and cover with straw mulch to help keep the soil evenly moist. Side dress corn with aged compost every 3 to 4 weeks during the growing season.

Pest protection. Cover seeded beds with row covers to exclude birds, caterpillars, and beetles early on. Handpick caterpillars and beetles that attack mature plants. Apply 5 drops of vegetable oil to the silks on each ear as the silks begin to brown; this will turn away earworms.

Pollination. When tassels appear on the ears, gently shake stalks each day so that pollen will fall to the silks. Differing corn varieties planted in close proximity will likely result in cross-pollination. To avoid cross pollination sow different varieties at least 25 feet apart or time planting so that differing varieties are not flowering at the same time.

Harvest. Begin picking ears 3 weeks after the first silks appeared on stalks. When silks turn brown, check ears to make sure they are filled and begin picking. You can also squeeze a kernel with your fingernail: if white milky juice drips out, the ear is ripe. Popcorn should be left on the plant until the husks have fully dried.

[…] not all uninformed dishes ambience a like. This is quite loyal of corn. It all depends on a type of corn grown as good as a form of continue it grew in. It is tough to tell by only looking during a corn […]

[…] you need to know that corn nutrition facts with yellow type has the highest antioxidant among other corn varieties. Moreover, it does not mean other types of corn do not have specific health benefits of corn. For […]

Recent Forum Topics

What is Harvest To Table?

Hi there and welcome!
My name is Steve Albert and I created Harvest to Table for the beginner and veteran gardner alike.

The goal here is to find easy solutions to common garden problems and to help you bring great food from your garden to your table. In addition to the tips and guidance I provide, if you have a gardening tip that you think will make a friend or neighbor a better gardener, please share it. Harvest to Table is about sharing!